Chess
by capricorn66
Summary: Richard Grayson was supposed to be prepared for anything. He was Robin, the Boy Wonder! He was supposed to be prepared...but he wasn't. So, all he could do was talk to her. Talk and pray that the cops could find her on time. AU, Character Death, my first YJ fanfic. One-Shot for now.


**A/N: So, I saw The Dark Knight for the first time EVER a few days ago...and it was sooooooooooo intense. In fact, it is my inspiration.**

** This is my first YJ fic...so HELPFUL tidbits are encouraged. Don't worry, I know I'm messing with the way things are suposed to be so this is definately an AU story.**

** Oh yeah, this is my first in depth character death scene...I need practice. **

**WARNINGS: Character death; OOCness probably; mostly dialogue; some language; not edited at all! (normally I do edit...sort of...I just didn't feel like it at the current time)**

**DISCLAIMER: Not mine.**

* * *

It was 4:00 a.m. when the call came. Normally, his phone would have been off, but he'd been too exhausted to bother with such a trivial matter when he'd gone to bed earlier. He was a busy kid, being Robin the Boy Wonder and whatnot.

* * *

_"Check."_

* * *

Blearily, Dick sat up and flicked on his bedside lamp. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, the thirteen year old child genius reached for his phone.

"Hello?" he yawned. Honestly, what person in their right mind would call so early? Remembering caller ID, Dick pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it. Apparently Barbara would…When no response came for a few minutes Dick tried again. "Babs? Hello?"

This time he heard shaky breathing in the background. Was Barbara crying? THE Barbara Gordon was crying? "Babs? Come on, talk to me here!" Dick spoke with urgency now. If Babs was crying, something horrible was going on.

Finally, after what felt like ages for the concerned boy who was now pacing around in his dimly lit room, Barbara answered with a stuttering, "D-Dick?"

"Babs! Thank God! What's going on? What happened? Are you okay? Do I have to go over to your house? Do you want to come here?" he babbled in rapid succession.

"D-Dick…" Barbara repeated, though her voice sounded fatigued. Dick had heard that type of weariness quite a few times in his life, more than he should've at his age, and it made his blood freeze.

"Babs are you-"

"S-sorry, 'bout calling you so early…Dad's working a-and he co-couldn't pick up," Dick's friend interrupted, voice strained, as though he hadn't been talking.

"It's fine Babs, I know the Joker escaped today, he's probably busy…Now, are you okay?"

Dick winced when he heard a hiss of pain on the other side of the line, "Th-the J-Joker, he did this t-to th-them…t'us…" Barbara's voice trailed off.

Blue eyes widened as the pieces were put together. The Joker….Damn…. "Babs, you still with me?"

"Mhmm," the faint response did little to ease Dick's growing dread.

"Hold on for a sec, okay?"

"'Kay," her words were getting quieter, which meant Babs was fading fast.

So, Dick did what he always did when he panicked, "BRUCE!" Not even ten seconds later a disheveled Bruce Wayne tumbled through his ward's bedroom door followed closely by one very confused Alfred.

In a rush, Dick quickly explained what was happening and gave Bruce the phone. "Barbara?" the billionaire asked seriously. Dick stood by worriedly as he listened to Bruce ask Babs questions like, "Are you alright?" "Where are you?" "What happened?" "How many others are there?" "Where are you injured?" and, the one that made all the blood leave his face, "How much blood?"

After a few minutes, a tight lipped Bruce handed Dick back his phone and left the room. Presumably to contact Commissioner Gordon, one way or another, in order to give him the location of his daughter who was apparently bleeding out.

"B-Babs?" Dick choked; never before had he had to do this sort of thing over the phone.

"H-hey sh-short stuff. G-guess B-B-Bruce is," Babs gave a hiss of pain, "tr-track-king my dad."

"Yeah," Dick breathed, his eyes tearing up, "He should be there soon to help you."

"Good. Good," Babs sighed, "the oth- others n-n-need hel-help t-too…"

* * *

"_No Babs, that's not a check," a younger Dick Grayson stated exasperatedly. _

_Babs threw up her hands in frustration, "Why not? My tower can hit your king! It's a check!"_

"_Well, it would be a check…If that actually was my king."_

"_What?"_

"_That," Dick pointed at the piece, "Is my queen."_

"_Ugh!"_

"_Sorry Babs," Dick smirked as he moved his queen and took out the offending tower. "By the way, check."_

"_UGH!"_

* * *

"...And then he fell. I thought he'd be ticked, so I blamed it on Wally and ran," Dick reminisced with a fake laugh. He'd been telling his friend stories for quite a while as he waited for the cops to arrive at her location. He knew she couldn't hold out much longer, but that didn't stop him from putting fake cheer into his voice, even though tears were streaming down his face as he sat on his bed.

"Wally's an idiot," Barbara's whispered voice said.

"Yeah, he is."

"Dick?"

"Yeah?"

"M'tired." Oh shit! Dick wasn't prepared for this! But he was supposed to be prepared for everything! That's why he worked with the goddamn Batman!

"Don't sleep Babs!" Dick urged with a tone he only used while in dangerous situations as Robin.

"I know that, but m'so tired."

"If you sleep you won't be able to hear the one about when Roy was learning to drive."

"…"

"Babs?"

"…"

"Babs!"

"Still here, don't yell."

"Don't go silent on me," Dick retorted.

"Sh-shrimp."

"Carrot top."

"Y-you know you're m'best friend."

"Yeah, you're mine too."

* * *

"_Check."_

"_Seriously Dick stop doing that!"_

"_Why?"_

"_You're just dragging the game on!"_

"_Well, you can still get to safety, so I can't end the game yet."_

_Barbara banged her head on the table and moved her king, "There, go." _

_Dick beamed, "Check."_

* * *

"I-I n-need y'to promise m'something," Barbara slurred quietly.

"Babs, don't do that, you-"

"Shut up and let me talk!" she ordered forcefully, though still weak, "If I don't get outta here, I n-need you t'promise m'that y-you'l let m'dad know th-that i-it isn't-t his f-fault."

"Babs…"

"Y'also need t-to sh-show e-everyone th-the r-r-real y-you. I-I kn-know y-you're always hidin' a-and I-I-I w-w-ish I-I c-could-da m-met th'real you."

"Babs, you have met the real me."

"N-no. Y-y-you're always hidin'."

"I-"

"Y-you're t-t-tougher than y'sh-show. I-I've s-s-seen y-y-you're m-mo-moments," Dick could hear her voice weakening, "P-promise?"

He gulped, "Promise."

* * *

_"How long have we been playing?"_

_ "About two hours. You're doing great!" _

_ "You're going easy on me."_

_ "I neither confirm nor deny that accusation."_

_ "It's your turn short stuff."_

_ "I'm not that small!" Dick huffed, "Check."_

* * *

"Hey, Babs?"

"Hmm?"

"There's something I need to tell you…"

"Hmm?" Barbara's responses had all but seized, becoming small groans. The longer he spoke to his dying friend over the phone, the more definite Dick's resolve became. He knew she wasn't going to make it. The revelation killed him inside, but he couldn't show weakness. That was unbecoming of Robin, and though he was currently Dick Grayson, the circumstances were better suited for the Boy Wonder, not the Circus Freak.

But he wasn't going to let Babs go without learning who he really was.

"Bruce and I…Babs, I'm Robin. The Boy Wonder…I-"

"Thanks."

"What?"

"Y't-trusted m-me…"

"I've always trusted you. As I said, you're my best friend."

"Hmm…"

* * *

_Babs was getting frustrated, "Dick, for the love of all that is holy, just finish the game already!"_

* * *

Dick could feel himself breaking. This was the worst moment of his life. He couldn't do anything but sit in his room, trying to keep Barbara awake as she died. Whatever was taking the cops so long better be real important. Like, giant bomb going to take out the whole city, important.

"Why'd you believe me so fast when I said I was Robin?" he asked. He was running out of discussion topics.

"Y'don't lie." The response scared Dick more than comforted him, which seemed to be a reoccurring theme. Every time Barbara spoke, her voice softened even more, her breathing faltered more. Normally, Dick would've told her to conserve her energy and not talk, but, in this situation, if she wasn't talking Dick had no knowledge of whether or not she was awake still.

That's when a hiss of pain came over the phone again; this one sounded more agonized than the rest. "The police are coming Babs, they'll be there anytime now."

"Hurts…"

"It's going to be alright."

Another pained hiss was all the response Dick received. The timer had run out. If the cops didn't arrive, like, now, Barbara Gordon wasn't going to live to see another day.

Without even realizing it, tears started cascading down Dick's face again. "Babs, it's going to be okay. The-The pain will go away soon."

"Kay. Trus' you."

Silence.

No breathing, no hissing, no slurred words, no stuttering. No more pain.

"Babs?" Dick asked urgently, "Barbara?" still nothing. "Please, make some sort of noise," he begged.

Now he was sobbing, but Robin didn't sob. Dick did…but he was Robin…"BARBARA GODON! YOU SAY SOMETHING RIGHT NOW!" he shouted into his phone so loudly the Alfred ran into his room again. The old butler took one look at the young Master and instantly knew what had happened.

He could only watch dejectedly as Dick cried Barbara's name over and over again into the phone.

* * *

_Smiling, Dick picked up his knight, "Alright Babs, I'll make your defeat quick and painless."_

* * *

Dick sat on his bed, Alfred next to him. The boy still held his phone to his ear, but he was no longer calling for his friend. He was waiting for the police to arrive at the scene.

Three minutes and forty-nine seconds after Barbara went silent; the sound of doors getting kicked down was heard. Dick could hear the cops gaping and gagging at the scene before them. Then there was the voice he recognized right away.

Jim Gordon.

The horrified father had spotted his daughter's mutilated body.

"Barbara! Oh dear God! My daughter…"

Dick hung up as the unbreakable Commissioner Gordon broke down.

* * *

_"Checkmate!"_

* * *

**A/N: Tada! It's probably going to remain a one-shot because I have about thirteen other stories started on my computer, and one I have to finish, but there is a long plot that I originally intended to spurt off of this...involving my own take on the Joker and another character death or two maybe...plus injuries...Yeah, it was going to be brutal. **

**Reviews are encouraged but not forced.**


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